Coshocton comes up short at state tennis tournament

COLUMBUS – The Coshocton tennis team made their third trip in a row to the state tournament, like the others, this one was short lived, as Cameron Wiandt and Jim and Sam Magness were each knocked out in the first round.

“I can’t be prouder than what I am with these guys,” head coach Kevin Kittell said. “I know that in the moment, they are disappointed. I know deep down, when the emotions of today pass, they are going to understand what it fully meant to be here.”

Wiandt fell behind early to Warstler in both sets, but was able to take one game. But, while the score looked very lopsided, most of the games, won by Wastler, were decided by a slim margin.

Wiandt said he could not find a weakness in Warstler’s game, whether it be his backhand or forehand.

“I thought I served well, but he is used to hard serves, so he was able to get a lot of them back,” Wiandt said. “He was basically just as strong in his forehand and backhand, so I couldn’t really find a weakness to go to.”

That paired with the fact that, Wiandt has played all season as the number three singles player on the team, put him at a disadvantage, as he hasn’t played against the talent that was in Columbus.

“The teams we had exposure to, he didn’t have many issues all year long. So he wasn’t pushed and tested and prodded like everyone else that’s out here is,” Kittell said. “Most of the singles players here are typically ones and they’ve gone up against the big names and the big schools. We came in with a great disadvantage, mentally I think, as far as that’s concerned. I thought he responded very well.”

The Magness brother’s doubles match was a game of momentum swings. The Magness brothers, won the first and third game in the first set, but then the Lexington pair took over. They would go on to win the first set, 6-2.

In the second set, things were a bit different, the Magness brothers jumped out to a 5 games to 2 lead. But, with their backs against the wall, the Lexington duo began to battle back. They eventually took a 6-5 lead, but the Magness pair, made quick work of their opponent in the 12th game, pushing it to a tiebreaker.

“A couple things happened, I think we may have gotten slightly complacent, which is very dangerous especially in doubles, because momentum can change so quickly,” Kittell said. “On the same token, the other team, specifically one player, began to just dominate the net. He put a lot of pressure on us, and I think we responded to that pressure, but we responded too late. They stayed strong though.”

In the tiebreaker it was all Lexington, as they took it 7-1, and knocked the Coshocton duo out of the tournament.

“I’m just really disappointed, I thought we could have won that match. We played good, just not good enough,” Jim Magness said. “We could have done some things differently, I’m just disappointed.”

“I had to remind them of what it meant to be here. I know they are focused on the woulda, coulda, shoulda,” Kittell said. “I tried to remind them of how proud the community is of them.”

With their losses on Friday, Wiandt and the Magness’s careers have come to an end. They leave Coshocton, as part of a senior class that went 62-8, and they have six state tournament appearances between the three of them.

“Our goal, like everybody’s goal, is to get to state, which is nice, I wish we could have done more when we got here honestly, but it was nice getting here, and I think we had a good career overall,” Sam Magness said.